Natural Remedies & Herbs for Recurrent Ear Infections

Echinacea has been reported to support healthy short-term immune response. As a result, it has been suggested that some children with recurrent ear infections may benefit from 1–2 ml (depending on age) of echinacea tincture taken three times per day or more. Doctors who use echinacea suggest that supplementation be started as soon as symptoms start to appear and continued until a few days after they are gone. Nonetheless, research has not been done to determine whether echinacea supplementation either reduces symptoms or prevents recurrence of ear infections.

Ear drops with mullein, St. John’s wort, and garlic in an oil or glycerin base are traditional remedies used to alleviate symptoms, particularly pain, during acute ear infections. No clinical trials have investigated the effects of these herbs in people with ear infections. Moreover, oil preparations may obscure a physician’s view of the ear drum and should only be used with a healthcare professional’s directions.

An unpublished clinical trial of children with colds found that linden tea, aspirin, and bed rest were more effective thanantibiotics at speeding recovery and reducing complications such as ear infection. (Aspirin is no longer given to children due to the threat of Reye’s syndrome.) However, no research has yet confirmed the use of linden for preventing ear infections.